Monday, November 19, 2007

"Chapter 11" Results

As many of you know, Lince Dorado was injured last night. Check out ChikaraPro.com and the ChikaraFans.com forum for more information. Amazingly, Lince's injury was a severe concussion. It could have been 10,000 times worse than that from viewing it all live, so thank goodness it's not a broken neck or something like that. My recap of that whole situation will be posted at the end of this post. There was more of the show, though, and it was another great show, and deserves to be talked about as well.

Before the show while waiting in line, the awesomest thing ever happened. Remember how I said Equinox left the show with his suitcase after being unmasked in Hellertown? He walked down the sidewalk next to the entire line of people wearing only high tights, boots, and a towel, while dragging that suitcase behind him. It was like 35 degrees out, too! This angle just got extremely awesome.

Team FIST (Icarus, Gran Akuma, and Chuck Taylor) def. Los Donst Creams (Tim Donst and Los Ice Creams) via Icarus making Donst tap out to the Chikara Special -- This was a very good opener. Los Ice Creams did both a Sole Food and Grenade Elbow drop during the match. Chuck Taylor was turned up to 11 yet again, and REALLY freaked a kid out when he yelled at him. The kid threw a replica belt about two feet in the air when Chuck threatened him with a punch. At two points in the match, Donst missed an attack on one of his opponents, only to hit a member of Los Ice Creams accidentally. Los Ice Creams took great umbrage to this and left Donst to fend for himself. After a CT Awful Waffle and an Icarus Pedigree, Icarus put Donst in the Chikara Special to avenge his loss at Barnesville. Icarus got incredible heat and Donst got incredible pops the entire match.

Robbie Ellis def. the Hydra via a Burning Hammer -- Yep, a Burning Hammer. Hydra was on the top rope, Robbie grabbed him before he could jump, and landed a picture-perfect Burning Hammer for the pinfall. The place went nuts when he hit it, and tons of people stood to applaud. Like you wouldn't stand and cheer for a 60+ year old man doing a Burning Hammer. My brother said the other day that what makes him even weirder is that he's an old wrestler doing current indy moves (a spinning head-scissors, for example). UltraMantis Black did not knock out the Hydra in this match, however, as he did in Hellertown. Wow, Hydra lost in 3 minutes to a Burning Hammer by a 60 year old, but the previous night almost won a match against Shane Storm that went 10 minutes and lost because a spell was cast on him.

The Colony def. Player Uno, Stupefied, and Shane Storm via the triple-team splash onto Stupefied -- This was pretty much what you'd expect from these guys: fast-paced and high-flying. At one point, Player Uno was paused on the top rope, so Stupefied went in and took the tag. Uno stayed up there while Ants were tagging in and out, so when Stupefied unpaused him, he clotheslined and entirely different ant. I hope that, if there is a King of Trios tournament in 2008, the Colony progress far into the tournament, at least into the final 8. They have proven to be very strong this year as a unit, although they do have one flaw: they have one speed, and that's "ultra-fast." If their opponent(s) slow them down during tags and trios matches, their chances at winning a match drop exponentially. They use hot tags (yeah I know, Fire Ant etc.) very well, which are always a chance to pick a match's energy up, but they have to be careful that they don't overdo it. I'm excited to see where their 2008 takes them as a team. Also, the best part of this match was Equinox standing behind the ring-bell area while this match went on, angry at his comrades that kicked him out the night before (the Colony, Storm)! Shane Storm didn't even notice him on the way out. This is awesome.

Bryan Alvarez def. Larry Sweeney via Superkick for the ICW-ICWA Tex-Arkana TV Title -- I talked to Sweeney before the show and he said that he brought Buddy Lee Parker to ref the match, the same referee from the Sweeney/Alvarez match from March. Sweeney got mad at Parker a few times during the match, though, for not counting the 3 fast enough. Larry, I know he's your referee for the match, but don't push him around, man! When Sweeney was covering to win the match, Parker stopped his hand at 2 9/10ths and left the ring! Sweeney got up to argue, only to turn around into a nice Superkick by Chico for the 1-2-3. I can't believe Sweeney lost the title to Alvarez! I demand a rematch within the next 24 hours!

Delirious, Cheech & Cloudy def. MIYAWAKI, Passion Hasegawa & El Pantera via Delirious's move that I couldn't explain in the last set of results, either -- Poor Passion STILL had handprints all over his chest from the Brodie Lee match on Friday. This was another fun match that was too fast-paced to remember a lot of the action. Delirious sang the "meow meow meow meow" Meow Mix jingle at El Pantera for a good laugh; he also kept referring to Passion as "ladyboy." Cheech & Cloudy were dressed up as themselves tonight, and it was good to see both teams are still on good terms. MIYAWAKI was his normal awesome self. Great match to take us into the intermission. The show has been good, but mildly slow, just like the previous night in Hellertown.

Helios, Mike Quackenbush, and Trik Davis def. Hawke Like An Egyptian (Shayne Hawke, Amasis, and Ophidian) via a Helios standing SSP onto Amasis -- This match ws right after the intermission and picked the show up quite quickly, just like the post-intermission match in Hellertown. When Quackenbush came out, Hawke was standing in front of me and we were both startled that Quack had on about 6 titles. We figured out that 3 were the NWA Jr. Heavyweight title and the IWA-MS Heavyweight and J. Heavyweight titles, but we didn't know the other 3. Any help on that would be appreciated. I also told him I'd buy a shirt when I have money, and he said, "That's what they all say." I would have offered $13 and a pre-match shoulder massage to get the shirt, but that may have been weird seeing that I'm like, 7 years older than him.

The match was fast-paced. Trik has put on some muscle and looks tons bigger than any time I've seen him in Chikara. He looks a lot less goofy, actually. Helios was spot on at both shows I went to, and something about him actually seems different since he put on a mask. Somehow, his gimmick fits well and actually gives him something to do instead of being generic small indy wrestler that does flips #4,192. Oh, having the Young Lion's Cup doesn't hurt much, either.

Eddie Kingston def. Hallowicked via Backfist to the Future -- This was as hard-hitting as you'd imagine. There were three pretty sick headbutts. If you watch the DVD and hear a girl yelling for them to stop, that's Destiny; she hates the bowling-balls-colliding sound of headbutts. Kingston gave 'Wicked a nasty boot to the face right in front of us in the corner or the railings outside, breaking him through the barrier. They never left the arena, but they did some sick spots on the outside of the ring including a suplex by Hallowicked on the ramp, as well a a Michinoku Driver on the cement floor. No weapons were used, which made this more of a personal fight instead of just a pointless brawl. Great match by these two, and it's refreshing to see a rudo win the feud-ending match.

Lince Dorado def. Mitch Ryder via a Shooting Star Senton -- I'll get to the injury in a moment. This was an EXTREMELY emotional match. Sweeney and Hawke came out with Ryder, and El Pantera accompanied Lince. El Pantera ended up getting punched out by Sweeney with an illegal object. When Sweeney and Hawke were actually about to get into the ring and interfere with the ref's back turned, Quackenbush, Donst, and some masked wrestlers came out to even the odds. Then, the rest of the Kings of Wrestling (minus Hero) came out to outnumber the tecnicos, only for more masked wrestlers to come out to support Lince! The crowd was incredibly hot at this point, with everyone cheering on Lince very loudly. And then Lince got injured, and here's my recap that I posted on the message board:

When Lince came out, a HUGE contingent of fans was there to cheer him on. You could tell that it was definitely his family.The match was going on VERY well with the help of the technicos and rudos coming out for each side. Lince went for a 450 senton (ie, an SSP with a senton landing) and apparently nailed his head/landed on his neck. I couldn’t see it because I was sitting across the corner from where it happened.

After the move, Mitch Ryder kinda rolled onto his side was shaking. I thought it was his reaction to the bump; in fact, I think I heard someone else from the PSU crew laughing at his reaction. Then Mitch rolled onto his back and Quack ran over the Lince and yelled “PIN HIM!!!” in his ear. It was then that I noticed that it wasn’t Mitch shaking, but actually Lince underneath Mitch while he was on his side. Mitch took Lince’s arm, placed it across his own chest, and Lince got the 3 count. The place exploded.

Lince kept shaking. He wasn’t breathing right at all; you could see him sucking his lower lip under his upper teeth over and over, really fast. Quack got into the ring really fast and was trying to get him to talk, but Lince said nothing. Lince eventually slowed his breathing down and stopped shaking; he wasn’t moving at all. NO ONE made a noise in the entire place. Daizee Haze ran down and tried to help Lince talk as well, but he didn’t respond.

They didn’t have a stretcher, so they got a table and managed to put Lince onto it to get him to the back. Quack took off his mask and covered his face with a towel, which was actually quite scary to see. The hair-shaving was REALLY surreal because it just seemed so extremely out of place. When it was quiet, I heard a woman sob loudly, and I looked over at an older woman covering her mouth. I feel certain it was his mom.

While everyone left the ringside area slowly and confusedly, you could hear a woman yelling from behind the curtain. She yelled, “MY BABY,” a couple times, so I’m pretty sure that it was his mom. That was what really hit me that I should get out of there, and I’m pretty sure Destiny had been thinking that for a few minutes by then.

We left and I wanted to go to my car, but someone told me not to go in because an ambulance was coming. I asked if I could just go to my car, and I did, but we didn’t leave because I didn’t want to block the eventual oncoming ambulance. There were many wrestlers out back; someone was trying to calm a woman down, and she may have actually fainted. I moved my car because it was pretty much where the ambulance would be pulling in. I called my brother to let him know the news, and we heard applause coming about 10 minutes after the ambulance had arrived. That probably means that he was alert, but I have no idea if he was walking or not. I tried to not look at the ambulance for privacy reasons. After the ambulance left, I left too.

It was really really REALLY weird and scary. I feel extra bad because his family was there. I left before they said that Hero/Claudio wouldn’t be happening, because I wouldn’t have felt right sticking around, and there’s no way I would have been able to get into it anyway. It seems that everyone else felt the same way about it, with the chant and all. Hopefully he’ll be all right.

Additionally, after I left, Quackenbush came out and said that Lince was responsive. He also said that Claudio/Hero would be canceled for the night, and for everyone to wait in the arena until the ambulance left (oops). ChikaraPro.com posted this today:

Hey Gang,As most of you are well aware, Lince Dorado was knocked unconscious and lapsed into seizure while attempting a back splash on Mitch Ryder at tonight’s Chapter 11 card. He was taken a local Philadelphia hospital immediately thereafter, and we are pleased to report that after a CAT scan and a few hours to rest and gather himself, Lince was released just over an hour ago. While he has been diagnosed with a serious concussion, and is suffering some understandable stiffness in his back and neck, Lince was in good spirits on his way back to Hotel CHIKARA, and wants to thank everyone for their support and understanding after the injury. He will remain State-side for the next few days and make at least one more trip to be examined before he is cleared to return to Mexico.

We at CHIKARA would also like to extend our most sincere thanks and appreciation to the crowd tonight for their understanding in the matter, as all of you were truly first class in handling it, and made us even more proud to call you our fans. We promise that 2008 will see us make good on what we weren’t able to present tonight, and then some.

Thank you again,

CHIKARA

So that should make you feel a little better. And if that positive news doesn't make you smile, then maybe this will:

So concludes year 2007 for Chikara. It's a shame that the year ended like this, but the news that Lince suffered only a concussion when it looked much worse is good news. Hopefully we'll get Claudio/Hero to finally end this feud. This end-of-season report does not mean that I'll stop the blog, as I'm sure I'll find things to post about over the next couple of months. Thanks for reading, and here's hoping that Lince Dorado gets well soon!